A monthly bulletin facilitated by your membership of the Rural Services Network highlighting a selection of current funding opportunities

Funding during Covid-19 – The National Lottery Community Fund

The Fund states: “Firstly, please be reassured that we will continue to honour our current commitments and will continue to be flexible with existing grants. COVID-19 will be our priority. Secondly, we are open, here and ready to help you. All funding decisions we make for the next six months will prioritise getting funding to groups best placed to support their communities at this vital time.

“We are seeing lots of inspiring activity in communities and are committed to backing longer term opportunities for innovation and recovery following the initial focus on emergency response.”

The Fund will prioritise:

Organisations supporting people who are at high risk from COVID-19

Organisations supporting people most likely to face increased demand and challenges as a result of the COVID-19 crisis

Organisations which connect communities and support communities to work together to respond to COVID-19.

Heritage Emergency Fund – The National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has put together a £50million fund to support the heritage sector as an immediate response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The UK-wide fund - money raised from The National Lottery - will address immediate pressures over the next few months for those organisations most in need. It is now open for applications until 30 June.

The £50m fund is available for grants of between £3,000 and £50,000.

It is available to organisations across the full breadth of heritage, including historic sites, industrial and maritime heritage, museums, libraries and archives, parks and gardens, landscapes and nature.

Organisations which have received funding in the past or are either a current grantee, or still under contract following a previous grant, can apply.

Priority will be given where:

there is limited or no access to other sources of support

where heritage is most at risk

where an organisation is at risk of severe financial crisis due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

Covid-19 Support – Sport England

Sport England are making up to £195 million of funding available to help the sport and physical activity sector through the ongoing coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis.

The package, which is a combination of National Lottery and government funding, is made up of the following:

A Community Emergency Fund. This aims to deliver immediate funding to those most in need and builds on the success of similar previous funds such as the Flood Relief Fund. It's specifically targeted at organisations, including those not currently supported by Sport England, who have a role in supporting the nation to be active but who are experiencing short-term financial hardship or the ceasing of operations due to the impact of coronavirus. Organisations can apply for grants between £300 and £10,000.

A £5 million Sector Partner Fund. Sport England will work with sector partners, for example the network of Active Partnerships and national governing bodies, on bespoke measures that may be needed for any instances of immediate financial distress. This might include, for example, supporting a national governing body where they've had to cancel an event which would have generated vital income for the?organisation.

A £55 million Sector Stimulation Fund. Sport England believe financial support will be needed to support and stimulate the sector while restrictions are being lifted, and that organisations will need help getting back to business and back to delivery. Details on how they propose to use this funding to support the sector for issues like this will be set out in the coming weeks.

A £115 million rollover of current funding into 2021/22 to give long term certainty to over 100 well established partners who play a vital role in the delivery of sport and physical activity in England.

Alongside this, given cashflow concerns in the sector, Sport England have also agreed to?consider requests to release six months of the coming year’s funding (50% of awards) to their partners, meaning additional funding will be available sooner.

More details on each of these funding streams can be viewed via the website.

Community Business Emergency Support – Power to Change

Power to Change, the independent trust that supports community businesses in England, has launched up to £12 million of emergency support to provide both immediate and medium-term help for community businesses facing a loss of trading income during the coronavirus crisis:

£7 millionin rescue funding for community businesses, offering grants up to £25,000 to contribute towards trading income losses incurred between April and June 2020. This first pot of funding is available to current and previous Power to Change grantees, and to community businesses which are members of Power to Change’s strategic partners – Co-operatives UK, Locality and the Plunkett Foundation – all of whom played a key role in designing this response.

£5 millionin recovery funding, to be made available later this year, based on learning from the first pot to help community businesses rebuild and recover strongly from the crisis.

Round 1 of the fund opens on 12 May and will close when it reaches 150 applications. Around £3 million will be awarded to around 150 community businesses. Round 2 of the fund will open on 19 May and will award around £2 million to around 100 community businesses.

Covid-19 Support – Arts Council England

The Arts Council have re-purposed all their investment strands to be able to offer individuals and organisations working in the cultural sector financial support during the current crisis.

A total of £160 million funding has been made available. Applications for organisations outside of the National Portfolio and for individuals have now closed. Applications for national Portfolio Organisations and Creative People and Places lead organisations will open on 12 May and close on 19 May 2020.

Coronavirus Appeal – National Emergencies Trust

The National Emergencies Trust (NET) launched a fundraising appeal to help those most affected by the coronavirus emergency. The appeal aims to raise funds for local charities and grassroots organisations that can provide vital support to people in the quickest way possible.

The fundraising appeal administration is run by the British Red Cross, on behalf of the NET. The British Red Cross is working with the NET to make it simple and easy for people to give. The British Red Cross transfer funds to the NET, who will work with UK Community Foundations. Each of the 47 community foundations is described as having “an in-depth understanding of their local area, what the priority needs are and how best to address these issues, so they can ensure the funding goes where it is most needed and can make the most impact.”

Individuals and charities should not apply directly to the NET for funds but should contact their local community foundation. You can read more and find out details of your local Community Foundation via the following link:

Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund - Mind

Voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations have a vital role working alongside our NHS colleagues to support anyone who has a mental health problem.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, demand for mental health services is increasing.

To help VCS organisations based in England continue to provide mental health services - or provide additional support - organisations can apply for a Coronavirus Mental Health Response Fund (CMHRF) grant.

Thanks to £5m support from government (the Department of Health and Social Care), grants of £20,000 or £50,000 are available for projects lasting up to 12 months.

Support for smaller organisations or groupsAs part of this funding programme, the National Survivor User Network (NSUN) will be administering a fund to support user-led organisations and smaller, unconstituted community organisations, who might not otherwise be eligible for a grant. Grants of up to £1000 will be available to support community action, peer support, mutual aid and other activities that will make a direct difference to the lives of people living with mental ill-health, trauma and distress during this Covid-19 period.

Rural Mobility Fund – Department for Transport

The rural mobility fund is part of the government’s better deal for bus users.

English local authorities can bid for funding to trial on-demand bus services in rural or suburban areas.

The focus of the fund is on setting up services where they do not already exist.

A total of £20 million is available with funding expected of between £500,000 and £1.5 million.

All tiers of local government in England with responsibility for transport, except London boroughs, can apply and will need to demonstrate that services predominantly serve communities in areas that have a population of fewer than 10,000 residents.

The deadline for expressions of interest, originally 30 April, has been extended to 4 June 2020.

Neighbourhood Planning Grant Funding – Locality

You can apply for three types of grant funding if you are preparing a Neighbourhood Plan:

Basic Grant Funding: All groups undertaking a neighbourhood plan are eligible to apply for up to £9,000 in basic grant. As well as applying for a basic grant, you can also apply for technical support (provided you meet the eligibility criteria) to help you with your neighbourhood plan.

Additional Grant Funding: Groups meeting the eligibility criteria are able to apply for additional grant of up to £8,000 (in addition to the basic grant). This will take the total amount of grant available to you to £17,000.

Affordable Housing for Sale Grant Funding: This is a new element to the programme, and it is running as a pilot scheme. The pilot began in 2019-20 and will continue in 2020-21. If you are wishing to bring forward affordable housing for sale you may be eligible for further grant funding of up to £10,000 to help develop these ideas.

As part of the UK Government's collaborative response to supporting key infrastructure throughout this difficult time, Defra is making £3.25m available through the Resource Action Fund. The COVID-19 Emergency Surplus Food Grant will be delivered in three phases:

Phase 1support has started with WRAP approaching a target list of small redistribution organisations who have applied previously to the fund to ascertain their immediate need for potential funding support.

Phase 2 provides funding opportunities between £5000 and £10,000 for small surplus food redistributors and is open for applications until 4 June 2020.

Phase 3is aimed at medium to larger operators and is open for applications for up to £50,000 until 21 May 2020.

Clothworkers’ Emergency Capital Programme – Clothworkers’ Foundation

The Clothworkers’ Emergency Capital Programme (CECP) will award small capital grants of up to £5,000 for essential capital items to adapt or increase services in response to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Priority will be given to organisations supporting vulnerable and ‘at risk’ groups within the Foundations’ programme areas during this period. Not-for-profit organisations with an annual turnover below £2 million can apply.

Community Radio Fund (emergency funding) – Ofcom

The Community Radio Fund helps to fund the core costs of running Ofcom-licensed community radio stations. For 2020-21, grants will be provided as emergency cash funding to support stations facing severe financial difficulty due to the coronavirus (“Covid-19”) outbreak.

They expect to only hold one funding round in 2020-21. This is to ensure that emergency funding can be accessed as soon as possible.

The window for applications opens on 4 May 2020 and closes at 5pm on 11 May 2020. The awarding Panel will meet in May 2020 to consider the applications.

Grants can only be made to community radio licensees in the UK, who are broadcasting under a community radio licence.

Covid-19 homeless support fund – Morrisons Foundation

The Morrisons Foundation recognises that homeless people are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 because they are more likely to have underlying health conditions and are less able to access basic sanitation.

Homelessness charities are raising concerns that if someone is sleeping rough or in a crowded night shelter, it’s impossible to self-isolate and maintain social distance so help is needed more than ever before.

In response to this, the Morrisons Foundation Trustees have pledged £500,000 towards the Homeless Support Fund. The fund is designed to support charities caring for the homeless during the coronavirus outbreak and ensure help gets to those who need it most.

Applications will be considered up to a maximum of £10,000, but the emphasis is on smaller amounts to enable as many charities as possible can be supported from the fund.

Development Grants & Impact Grants – Youth Futures Foundation

The Foundation have made the following statement: “We are aware of the significant impact of Covid-19 and are in discussions with other funders about the possibility of emergency funding. However, we know that long-term funding is also needed. In launching our grants programme as planned, we hope to be as helpful as possible with our simple to access, rolling grants programme, so that you can focus on the vital work of supporting some of the most vulnerable young people in our communities now and in the future”

This grants programme is designed to find, fund, support and evaluate promising practice. Funding will go to organisations working with young people aged 14-24 to help overcome barriers to finding meaningful work. They are looking for approaches that can be tested, evaluated and, where proven to be effective, expanded to more young people.

The Foundation want to partner with organisations that share their values and are committed to learning, investing in good practice and sharing what works to transform the youth employment landscape.

Two types of grant are available:

Development Grants of between £30,000 and £100,000 per annum over 1-2 years.

Impact Grants of between £100,000 and £800,000 per annum over 1-5 years.

Enterprise Relief Fund – Prince’s Trust & Nat West

The £5million Enterprise Relief Fund will offer grants to 18 to 30-year olds across the UK who are self-employed and/or running their own business. In conjunction with cash grants, the initiative will offer one-to-one support and guidance to anyone who needs it and who may be worried about their future.

Grants can be used to maintain core business operations during the crisis, as well as meet any existing financial commitments, such as paying for essential equipment or settling invoices from suppliers. Additionally, grants will also support young people to diversify their business to respond to opportunities created by the crises. In conjunction with grants, the initiative will offer one-to-one support and guidance to any applicants who need it.

To be eligible to apply, you must be a business owner aged 18 to 30, who set up their business in the last four years and don't have any other source of income during the crisis.

Healthy Communities Together programme – National Lottery Community Fund

This programme, developed in partnership between The National Lottery Community Fund and The Kings Fund, aims to support local areas to develop effective and sustainable partnerships between the voluntary and community sector, the NHS and local authorities to improve health and wellbeing, reduce health inequalities and empower communities.

As well as providing grant funding, the programme will support the development of relationships between partners, identifying and agreeing how best to work together, to ensure the involvement of organisations working across communities, and create a plan of activities.

The programme consists of two phases. In phase 1, a maximum of six areas will receive up to £50,000 funding from The National Lottery Community Fund and a package of learning and development support from the King’s Fund for up to nine months to develop their partnership and project plans.

Applications for phase 1 were originally intended to be submitted by 27 March. However, the funder has issued the following statement: “Both The National Lottery Community Fund and The King’s Fund are committed to delivering the Healthy Communities Together programme. However, due to the ongoing and developing situation with COVID-19, and the additional pressures that this is placing on the voluntary and community sector, local authorities and NHS organisations, we have decided to allow additional time and extend the deadline for the submission of expressions of interest. We have therefore decided to extend the deadline for expressions of interest to 27 May.”

At the end of this phase, each site will be invited to apply for phase 2 of the programme for further funding and support.

Applications for phase 2 will be assessed on the strength of the partnerships that have developed, their involvement of relevant organisations working across communities, and the strength and feasibility of their project plans to deliver meaningful benefits for people and communities.

Successful partnerships will receive up to £450,000, as well as ongoing learning and development support from The King’s Fund, over a further three years.

Coronavirus response fund – Big Society Capital

A £100 million programme of loans and investment has been announced by Big Society Capital to help get much-needed emergency funding to social enterprises, charities and small businesses in disadvantaged areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The new measures include:

A new Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund, managed by Social Investment Business (SIB), to enable social lenders to provide emergency loans to affected social enterprises and charities without requiring personal guarantees and charging no fees or interest for 12 months.

Smaller, emergency loans will also be made available on the same no fee, no interest for 12 months basis to small businesses and social enterprises in more deprived areas.

Up to a further £50 million which Big Society Capital will reprioritise and repurpose over coming months to address emerging funding needs among social enterprises and charities, either through the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund or alternative funding vehicles as appropriate.

UK Theatres Small Grants scheme

The UK Theatres Small Grants Scheme is a capital fund that awards up to £5,000 to theatres across the UK run by charities and not-for-profit groups that can clearly demonstrate the value capital improvements to their theatres would make to their work in local communities.

On 20 March 2020, the government announced a £6 million pot of funding to help farmers recover from flooding in February through a further extension to the Farming Recovery Fund.

Support will be available for farmers affected by recent flooding in parts of East and North Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Herefordshire.

Under the Farming Recovery Fund, affected farmers in eligible areas can claim for grants between £500 and £25,000 to cover a number of uninsurable repair costs, such as the re-cultivation of farmland, including re-seeding, replanting cover crops and alleviating soil compaction.

Restoring Your Railway Fund – Department for Transport

The Department for Transport has invited MPs, local authorities and community groups across England and Wales to propose how they could use funding to reinstate axed local rail services and restore closed stations.

Funding is available for 3 purposes.

Ideas Fund – offers support to proposals to reinstate axed local services, which should be sponsored by MPs working with local authorities and community groups.

Accelerating existing proposals – the £500 million fund will also help accelerate the development of closed lines and stations which are already in the process of being considered for restoration.

Proposals for new and restored stations – a new round of the New Stations Fund, supporting both the development of new stations and restoration of old station sites.

The Rural Community Energy Fund (RCEF) is a £10 million programme which supports rural communities in England to develop renewable energy projects, which provide economic and social benefits to the community.

RCEF provides support to rural communities in 2 stages:

stage 1: grants of up to £40,000 for a feasibility study for a renewable energy project

stage 2: grants of up to £100,000 for business development and planning of feasible schemes

RCEF is being run by 5 regional Local Energy Hubs. If you would like to register your interest for the scheme, or would like further information, please contact the relevant hub for your area.

Places to Ride – British Cycling

British Cycling is working closely with Sport England to develop a national network of new cycling facilities which meets local demand, making use of a £15 million investment programme called Places to Ride.

The funding is available to any organisation that is developing cycling activity in their community and can be used for anything from equipment packages to activate your local space, through to a brand-new cycling facility. The programme is open until January 2021.

Large scale grants (£50,000 - £500,000) are available, typically for new facilities or significant improvements to existing venues, small scale grants (£1000 to £50,000) for equipment, cycle storage, small-scale facilities or venue improvements. Equipment packages are also available to activate your local space.

Cornerstone, Gateway & Foundation Grants – National Churches Trust

The National Churches Trust has three grant programmes currently open:

Cornerstone grants. The Cornerstone Grant Programme offers grants of between £10,000 and £50,000 towards the cost of urgent structural repair projects costed at more than £100,000 including VAT. The Trust will also consider projects that introduce kitchens and accessible toilets to enable increased community use, costed at more than £30,000 including VAT. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project cost. The next deadline for applications is 6 July 2020.

Gateway grants. The Gateway Grant Programme offers grants of between £3,000 and £10,000 towards project development and investigative work up to RIBA planning stage 1, to support churches preparing for a major project, and in developing their project to the point at which they can approach a major grant funder. Grants will never exceed 50% of the project costs for this phase. The next deadlines will be 14 May and 10 September 2020.

Foundation grants. The Foundation Grant Programme will offer grants of between £500 and £5,000 towards urgent maintenance works and small repairs identified as high priority within a recent Quinquennial Inspection or Survey Report. Also, small investigative works and surveys. Project costs should not exceed £10,000. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis from the end of January 2020. The final opportunity to submit an application will be 30 October 2020.

Preventative maintenance micro grants. If the cost of booking maintenance services is a problem, the National Churches Trust, with its partner the Pilgrim Trust, can offer grants towards the cost of a building's maintenance services. You could receive up to 50% of the cost of works (excl. VAT) up to a maximum grant of £500. The cost of your service must not exceed £1,000 (excl VAT).

This programme supports projects that will contribute to the transformation of high streets and town centres in England helping them become thriving places, strengthening local communities and encouraging local economies to prosper. It is part of a wider initiative to revive heritage high streets in England, alongside Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zones.

This programme is for individual heritage buildings in, or transferring to, community ownership. They will support charities and social enterprises to develop projects with the potential to bring new life to high streets by creating alternative uses for redundant or underused historic buildings in town centres.

A range of grants are available:

Project Viability Grants: up to £15,000, for early viability and feasibility work, open now for applications.

Project Development Grants: up to £100,000, for capital project development costs, open now for applications.

Crowdfunding Challenge Grants: up to £25,000, to match fund crowdfunding campaigns, open now for applications.

Transformational Project Grants: up to £350,000, for transformational capital projects. The deadline for applications is 7 April 2020.

Energy Redress Scheme – Energy Saving Trust

Energy Saving Trust has been appointed by Ofgem to distribute payments from energy companies who may have breached rules. The funds can pay for anything from making a home more energy efficient, to providing advice that helps consumers keep on top of their bills.

Energy Saving Trust has developed an open application process for charities seeking funding from the Energy Redress Scheme. Successful projects will be selected with input from an independent panel of experts and could cover a range of locations across England, Scotland and Wales.

The amount of funding available through the scheme varies throughout the year and will be reviewed on a quarterly basis in October, January, April and July. Eligible charities that have registered interest in the scheme will be notified when funds become available.

The minimum grant that can be requested is £20,000 and the maximum amount is the lesser of £2 million or the total value of the current fund.

The scheme can fund projects lasting up to two years, can fund 100 per cent of the project cost and can cover revenue and capital measures.

Comic Relief Community Fund (England) – Groundwork UK

The Comic Relief Community Fund (England) is offering grants to grassroots community organisations with an income of less than £250,000.

There are two types of grants available to organisations whose work delivers on one of Comic Relief’s four strategic themes:

Children Survive & Thrive: projects that support children under the age of 5 to reach their potential and have the best start in life.

Fighting for Gender Justice: projects that improve equality for women, girls and the LBTQI+ community and initiatives that help people affected by domestic violence, abuse or exploitation due to their gender.

A Safe Place to Be: projects that support people who are rebuilding their lives because of homelessness or forced migration.

Mental Health Matters: projects that support good mental health in communities, improve access to support and tackle stigma and discrimination.

Funding is available to help you develop your organisation through a Capacity Building Grant (up to £500) or to deliver projects through a Project Delivery Grant (up to £4000).

Administration of the local funding is being managed by community charity, Groundwork, which specialises in transforming communities and the local environment for the better.

Veterans’ Foundation grants

Many armed forces charities struggle to raise sufficient funding to support serving and former members of the British Armed Forces’ and sometimes their dependants who are in need. The Veterans' Foundation has been created to establish a new and nationwide source of funding to help these charities. It acquires its funds through the Veterans’ Lottery and donations.

The trustees of the Veterans' Foundation will disburse funds to Armed Forces charities and charitable activities.

They will support projects that:

Reduce homelessness

Increase employment

Provide welfare and medical support

Increase confidence and social integration

Reduce dependence on drugs and alcohol

Support other charitable activities that may be needed

You can apply for grants of any sum up to a maximum of £30K. Trustees will also consider a bid for a spread grant, i.e. £30K as £10K for each of the next three years. Please note that the trustees are likely to award more small grants than large grants. They will consider a range of factors including the service or item being applied for, the number of beneficiaries, the importance of the grant to the applicant charity and the needs of the beneficiaries.

The government offers grants to support the wider use of electric and hybrid vehicles via the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV). This includes:

The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) provides grant funding of up to 75% towards the cost of installing electric vehicle chargepoints at domestic properties across the UK.

The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides support towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charge-points, for eligible businesses, charities and public sector organisations.

Full fibre broadband connections offer the fastest and most reliable speeds available and, as part of the government commitment to a vision of a full fibre Britain, in March 2018 they announced the £67m Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme.

Gigabit vouchers can be used by small businesses and the local communities surrounding them to contribute to the installation cost of a gigabit-capable connection. Businesses can claim up to £2,500 against the cost of connection either individually or as part of a group project. Residents can benefit from the scheme with a voucher worth £500 as part of a group project.

From May 2019, premises in the harder-to-reach places in the UK may be eligible for additional funding.

As part of the Government’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity programme business and residents in some of the hardest-to-reach places in the UK are eligible for additional funding towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband to their premises when part of a group project.

Rural premises with broadband speeds of less than 30Mbps can use vouchers worth up to £3,500 for each small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), and up to £1,500 per residential premise. to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. This is subject to the eligibility rules.

Church Conservation Grants – William and Jane Morris Fund

Grants between £500 and £5000 are awarded to churches, chapels and other places of worship in the United Kingdom for the conservation of decorative features and monuments, but not for structural repairs.

Grants will be awarded to support smaller programmes of work concerned with the conservation of decorative or non-structural features such as:

stained glass windows

sculpture

furniture

internal monuments and tombs

wall paintings

The decorative feature, monument, etc must date from no later than 1896 (the year of William Morris’s death). The next deadline for applications is 31 August 2020.

Heritage Impact Fund – Architectural Heritage Fund

The HIF offers tailored finance for charities, social enterprises and community businesses across the UK to develop sustainable heritage at the very heart of vibrant local economies.

Loans from £25,000 to £500,000 are available for up to three years with tailored terms and both flexible and incentivised interest rates for impactful projects. These could include both capital and interest repayment holidays.

HIF supports applicants across the UK who are undertaking a capital project or are looking to build upon or scale-up an existing enterprise.

The HIF is a joint initiative with contributions from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland, Cadw and the Architectural Heritage Fund.

First Steps Enterprise Fund – Asda Foundation

First Steps Enterprise Fund (FSEF) is a £300,000 pilot fund to support community organisations. The Social Investment Business manage this fund on behalf of the Asda Foundation.

Funding is available for community organisations (charities and social enterprises) based in England that are looking to take on their first loan to help them grow and become more sustainable. Particular preference is given to organisations that work in the following areas:

Older people

Health and wellbeing

Employment for young people

Funding packages of up to £30,000 are available (90% loan and 10% grant). The loan element is charged at 5% (fixed) to be repaid over a period of 4 years with an optional capital holiday for the first year. Up to £50,000 is available for exceptional cases.

Enable risk-taking, ambitious organisations in the arts and cultural sector to take on small-scale repayable finance in order to achieve social outcomes;

Increase the capability of arts and cultural organisations to articulate, achieve, monitor and evaluate their intended social impact.

The Fund offers unsecured loans (and revenue participation agreements, where appropriate) between £25,000 and £150,000 with repayment terms of one to five years and interest rates ranging between 5.5% and 8.5%.

Emergency Essentials Programme – BBC Children in Need

Family Fund Business Services are working in collaboration with BBC Children in Need to deliver the Emergency Essentials programme supporting children and young people living with severe poverty as well as additional pressures such as domestic violence, disability or poor health in the family.

The programme can deliver or fund critical items such as:

Gas or electric cookers

Essential household items

Furniture and kitchen equipment

Children’s beds and bedding

Washing machines

Fridges and freezers

Baby equipment

Clothing in exceptional or emergency situations.

Applications must be completed by a registered referrer who is part of an organisation that is supporting the family or young person and capable of assessing their needs.

Reaching Communities England – National Lottery Community Fund

The Reaching Communities programme aims to make positive change in communities. Big Lottery particularly want to hear about ideas that support:

Lasting and sustainable changes to places and spaces

Communities to develop happier and stronger relationships with each other

Taking action to focus on the root causes of social problems to tackle them at the earliest possible stage

Through Reaching Communities funding, you can apply for between £10,000 and £500,000. Successful grant can fund some or all of the costs associated with delivering a project, including staff salaries, training, volunteer expenses, management costs, equipment, premises costs, monitoring and evaluation and overheads. The programme can also fund up to £100,000 for small scale capital work, such as refurbishment, the purchase of vehicles, land or buildings.

Big Lottery encourage applicants to contact them before applying for additional advice and support before you submit your application.

NB: This programme now focuses on funding projects and organisations helping communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund expect this COVID-19 focus to last for up to six months but will review the situation in July and update the website accordingly.

Awards for All England – National Lottery Community Fund

National Lottery Awards for All offers funding from £300 to £10,000 to support what matters to people and communities. You can apply if your organisation is a:

voluntary or community organisation

registered charity

constituted group or club

not-for-profit company or community interest company

social enterprise

school

statutory body (including town, parish and community council).

National Lottery Awards for All has three funding priorities. Applications must meet at least one of them. The priorities are:

bringing people together and building strong relationships in and across communities

improving the places and spaces that matter to communities

enabling more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

NB: This programme now focuses on funding projects and organisations helping communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund expect this COVID-19 focus to last for up to six months but will review the situation in July and update the website accordingly.

Partnerships – National Lottery Community Fund

Through partnerships funding, Big Lottery aim to make grants available over £10,000 for organisations who share responsibility and influence with others, who have a shared set of goals and values, and achieve their mission by starting with the bigger picture rather than just what their organisation can do on its own.

Grants are awarded for up to five years and we can fund project activities, operating costs, organisational development and capital costs. The three funding priorities are:

bring people together and build strong relationships in and across communities

improve the places and spaces that matter to communities

enable more people to fulfil their potential by working to address issues at the earliest possible stage.

NB: This programme now focuses on funding projects and organisations helping communities through the COVID-19 pandemic. The Fund expect this COVID-19 focus to last for up to six months but will review the situation in July and update the website accordingly.

HS2 Community and Business Funds – Groundwork UK

Two funds are available to local communities to help with the disruption that will be caused by the construction of Phase one of HS2 between London and the West Midlands; the Community and Environment Fund and the Business and Local Economy Fund. The objective of these funds is to add benefit, over and above committed mitigation and statutory compensation, to communities and local economies along the route.

The administration of these funds is managed on behalf of HS2 Ltd by the charity Groundwork who will ensure both funds remain available for applications throughout the construction of Phase One.

BlueSpark Foundation grants

Schools, colleges and community groups in England can apply for grants to Blue Spark Foundation for a wide range of projects. The Foundation value academic, vocational, artistic and sporting endeavour in equal measure but are particularly keen to support projects which will help enhance the self-confidence, team working skills and future employability of children and young people.

Many grants will be under £2,000, most will be under £5,000 and only in a few cases will grants exceed £10,000.

Projects which could be supported include drama, music, sport, art and design, debating, public speaking, academic education, vocational training, community projects, enterprise projects and educational excursions. This list is illustrative and not exclusive as to the types of project that the Foundation support.

Family Fund – The Family Fund Trust for families with severely disabled children

The Family Fund helps families across the UK who are raising a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under. You can apply to Family Fund subject to a number of criteria which include that you are the parent or carer of a disabled or seriously ill child or young person aged 17 or under and that you have evidence of entitlement to one of the following: Universal Credit, Child Tax Credit, Working Tax Credit, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Support, Incapacity Benefit, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit and Pension Credit.

Landfill Communities Fund – SUEZ Communities Trust

SUEZ Communities Trust (formerly SITA) provides funding awards of up to £50,000 to not-for-profit organisations to undertake work that is eligible under the Landfill Communities Fund (LCF). Applications are considered for three areas of work which qualify for funding through the LCF. These include:

Public Amenities

Historic Buildings, Structures or Sites

Biodiversity

Projects can be supported that make physical improvements at sites located in any of 100 funding zones around qualifying sites owned by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK.

Tesco Community Grants – Tesco and Groundwork

Groundwork is working with Tesco on three local community grant schemes, where the money raised from plastic carrier bag sales is being used to fund thousands of local projects in communities right across the UK.

Projects that bring benefit to their community will get the green light – these range from improving community buildings and outdoor spaces to buying new equipment, training coaches or volunteers, and hosting community events.

There are currently three grant schemes covering different sizes of projects and parts of the country:

Tesco Bags of Help, which provides grants of up to £2,000 to projects in the UK

Tesco Bags of Help Centenary Grants, which provides funding of up to £25,000 to projects that have a significant regional impact in the UK

The Tesco Centenary Fund which provides grants of up to £50,000 to projects that have a significant regional impact in Northern Ireland

Home Building Fund – Homes & Communities Agency

The government has created a £3 billion fund “to increase the number of homes built in England.” You can apply if you’re a private sector business that builds new homes or prepares sites for housing developments. This includes small builders, community builders, custom builders and regeneration specialists, as well as larger builders and developers.

The fund provides development finance and infrastructure finance via loans. More information on how the fund works and who can apply is available in ‘An Introduction to the Home Building Fund’ which you can access via the link below.

Help the Homeless grants

Help the Homeless makes grants to charitable organisations with the aim of helping homeless people return to the community and enabling them to resume a normal life. Grants are available to small and medium-sized charitable organisations to fund the capital costs of projects with grants of up to £5,000. The quarterly deadlines for grant applications each year are: 15 March, 15 June, 15 September and 15 December.

Grants for War Memorials – War Memorials Trust

War Memorials Trust administers a number of grants schemes supporting war memorials in the UK. Programme funders include Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland as well as voluntary donations towards the charity’s work from individuals and organisations. Grants are currently available up to 75% of eligible costs with a normal maximum grant of £30,000.

War Memorials Trust seeks to help all war memorial custodians, whatever the nature and size of their war memorial by facilitating repair and conservation projects.

Details on current eligibility and deadline dates as well as how to apply can be found at.

Football Foundation grants

The Football Foundation provides grants for building or refurbishing grassroots facilities, such as changing rooms, 3G pitches, fencing, portable floodlights, pitch improvements and clubhouse refurbishment. The Fund is available to football clubs, schools, councils and local sports associations and gives grants for projects that:

Improve facilities for football and other sport in local communities.

Sustain or increase participation amongst children and adults, regardless of background age, or ability.

Help children and adults to develop their physical, mental, social and moral capacities through regular participation in sport.